How weve changed How weve changed

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As 2008 draws to a close and Daggers fans all around dream of securing that prestiguous play off spot, its key to look back and realise just how far John Still has brought the team. What started as a stabilising job back in April 2004 after the Daggers plunged into financial difficulties has four and a half years later become a fairytale story. Who would have dreamed that merely three years later, a  Solomon Thomas Jersey club transformed with young hungry players from the lower leagues would beat Oxford United to the Conference title of 06/07. However, the fans were brought back to earth last season after flirting with relegation. Several supporters believed the manager had taken us as far as he could and that league football was just a step too far for a little club like Dagenham. Neverthele s, after scraping survival the Daggers have gone on a new adventure this season beating clubs such as Gillingham, Rochdale, Chesterfield and Peterborough which has remarkably seen the side rise to 4th place in League 2 with a game in hand on several promotion rivals. I thought it would be interesting to look at how our starting XI has changed from when we won the Conference title to see if weve had to change personal to succeed or if the players have grown to become accustomed to League 2.THE LINE UPSI have bolded the players in 06/07 that are no longer with the club or are now fringe players. I have also bolded the players in 08/09 that are new arrivals and werent with the club in 06/07.06/07  Conference winning season-RobertsFosterUddinBoardman/ArberGriffithsSaundersSouthamRainfordSlomaBenson-CMS/Strevens- C.J. Beathard Jersey 08/09  Team that has led us to 4th in League 2-Roberts-Foster-Okuanghae-ArberGriffithsSaundersGainTaiwo-Ritchie-Benson-StrevensThe two line ups show that only 4/11 of the players in the 06/07 line up have been replaced in the current Daggers line up. Ben Strevens and Mark Arber were both brought in half way through the 06/07 campaign to replace outgoing/injured players. Arber is a slightly different case as he left after the 06/07 campaign but returned at the start of the 08/09 campaign. What this does show is how several of the players have grown from the Conference days to become established league players. The strike force of Benson and Strevens has become one of, if not, the most feared partnerships in League 2. The full backs of Scott Griffiths and Danny Foster never seem to look out of place. Griffiths is the more naturally talented of the two and undoubtedly can play at a higher level. However, Foster has worked very hard at his game and has transformed from a centre back at youth football to a very competent right back. Goalkeeper Tony Roberts is seemingly agele s and at 39 still has the agility of a 25 year old. His experience and personality has a tremendous effect on the team and is a major reason behind the succe s of the team in the last three years.THE MIDFIELDFrom comparing the two fielded XIs, its clear that the midfield has been the area where Dagenham have had to change personnel the most. The only other area to be altered is where former club captain Anwar Uddin has made way recently for the up and coming Magnus Okuanghae after forming an impre sive partnership with new captain Mark Arber.As for the midfield, three changes have been made. Sam Sloma and Dave Rainford both departed the club in the summer to drop back into non league football. Many Daggers fans were Javon Kinlaw Jersey  of the opinion that both players were not quite up to the level of league football. Although both players had their moments, they were clearly not performing up to the level needed on a consistent basis. Its worth pointing out however that Rainford voluntarily left in the summer after deciding he didnt want to put his teaching career on the back burner. The other absentee from the midfield this season has been Glen Southam. Glen put a transfer request in at the start of the season to see whether or not any bigger clubs were interested in him. Neverthele s, this meant Glen started the season on the bench as the transfer window was still open and a move po sible. No clubs came in for Glen and even though he removed himself from the transfer list, he is now behind Solomon Taiwo and Peter Gain who have struck up a solid partnership in the middle of the field. The only area of the midfield to remain untouched from 06/07 is Sam Saunders on the right wing. Originally Sam was one of the Daggers players to receive a fair amount of stick from supporters as he produced several inconsistent performances when it was clear he had an outstanding right foot. An injury hit first football league season did little to suggest that he was going to be a stand out player for the Daggers in this campaign. However, a more free role and a new level of consistency has seen Saunders storm up the goal chart and deliver a number of brilliant a sists from wide positions that has made him one of the first names on the team sheet.At the beginning of the season, Daggers fans had a new star to worship. His name was Dominic Green. A young, tricky winger with genuine pace is something the Daggers fans havent seen much since the days of Mark Janney. Green caught the Daggers minds with several cameo appearances during the relegation battle of 07/08. However, it was at the beginning of this campaign where the departure of Sam Sloma saw Green promoted as the number one left winger. A superb free kick in the opening game against Chester and a mature performance against Championship challengers Reading in the Carling Cup got Daggers fans extremely excited. However, the Daggers just couldnt refuse a six figure sum offered by Peterborough and the youngster with a bright future left after just Kyle Juszczyk Jersey  four first team appearances. Many fans wondered how this would affect the balance of the team. Clearly there was a void on that left side that Richard Graham or John Nurse werent going to be able to fill. Once again, John Still waved his magic wand and brought in young Portsmouth winger Matt Ritchie on loan. After several impre sive performances, Ritchie has quickly become a fans favourite and is surely now one of the first names on the team sheet after an impre sive five goals in fifteen games. Thankfully the Daggers have  Joe Montana Jersey secured the young star on a season long loan.One thing that has been clear is that the midfield battle has become a lot more important in league football than it was in the Conference. In 06/07, Dagenham adopted an extremely direct approach quite often bypa sing the midfield completely. This saw the likes of Glen Southam supporting the strikers and looking for lay backs rather than playing the ball through to the strikers themselves. Quite clearly this approach worked well in the Conference as Daggers had two outstanding strikers, good standard Conference wingers and a good solid defence to build from. On the occasions that the Daggers were on the back foot they had the no nonsense approach of Dave Rainford to clean up any me s that occurred.However, this approach wasnt nearly as succe sful in the transition to league football. It must be said that the first reason for this was the injury jinx that struck the Daggers last season. A lack of rhythm and new personnel every game saw the effect of this tactic easily dealt with by opposition defences. However, another reason was that the quality of the Daggers players was matched, if not, bettered by the opposition. The delivery from the wide areas was quite often found lacking meaning
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